Lancashire Witch
Lancashire Witch was Robert Stephenson's 1828 locomotive for the Bolton & Leigh Railway, a transitional design between the early colliery engines and the Rocket of 1829. Lancashire Witch introduced two important innovations: the inclined-cylinder arrangement (which gave better balance and smoother running than the vertical cylinders of earlier designs) and a primitive multi-flue boiler (a step towards the multi-tube boiler that would feature on Rocket the following year).
The engine was built for the Bolton & Leigh Railway, a private mineral railway in Lancashire, and entered service in 1828. The Liverpool & Manchester Railway, then under construction, briefly borrowed the engine for tests during 1828, the loan was significant because L&M tests with Lancashire Witch contributed to the case for steam haulage that was decided at Rainhill the following year.
The two cylinders were mounted at approximately 45° to the horizontal, the first significant British locomotive to use inclined cylinders, an arrangement Robert Stephenson would refine on Rocket the following year. The boiler used two flues rather than the single flue of Locomotion, not yet the 25 firetubes that would feature on Rocket, but a step towards the multi-tube boilers that would become the post-1829 standard.
Lancashire Witch worked the Bolton & Leigh Railway from 1828 onwards on heavy coal traffic, demonstrating the practical value of the inclined-cylinder arrangement and the multi-flue boiler. The engine continued in service through the 1830s and was scrapped in approximately 1842 after some 14 years' service. No original component is known to survive.
Design and development
By 1828 Robert Stephenson (the son of George Stephenson) had taken over operational management of Robert Stephenson and Company at Newcastle, with George Stephenson focused on engineering for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and Stockton & Darlington Railway. Robert was developing the next generation of locomotive designs.
Lancashire Witch was Robert Stephenson's first major step beyond the early Killingworth and S&DR designs. The engine introduced two important innovations: the inclined-cylinder arrangement (which gave better balance and smoother running than the vertical cylinders of earlier designs) and a primitive multi-flue boiler (a step towards the multi-tube boiler that would feature on Rocket the following year).
The engine was built for the Bolton & Leigh Railway, a private mineral railway in Lancashire, and entered service in 1828. The Liverpool & Manchester Railway, then under construction, briefly borrowed the engine for tests during 1828, the loan was significant because L&M tests with Lancashire Witch contributed to the case for steam haulage that was decided at Rainhill the following year.
Service and withdrawals
Lancashire Witch worked the Bolton & Leigh Railway from 1828 onwards on heavy coal traffic. The engine demonstrated the practical value of the inclined-cylinder arrangement and the multi-flue boiler, both innovations that Robert Stephenson would refine and incorporate in Rocket of 1829.
The engine continued in service on the Bolton & Leigh Railway through the 1830s. Detail records of the engine's later service are sparse, the Bolton & Leigh was a small private railway with limited record-keeping. Lancashire Witch was scrapped in approximately 1842 after some 14 years of service.
Identification features
The engine was approximately 12 ft long with the inclined cylinders mounted at the rear of the boiler, projecting upwards and backwards at approximately 45°. The boiler was cylindrical with a tall vertical chimney at the front. The whole engine had a more modern outline than the contemporary Locomotion-derived designs, anticipating the Rocket arrangement of the following year.